Quarter Log Cabin Lap Quilt

I finished the first of the three charity quilts that I want to get done by next Monday.  You can see a preview of all the fabric in Two Yards of Charity Quilts.

It's cold and snowy outside, so after walking the dog it's nice to come inside and sew a lot.

Here's the logic behind getting three quilts out of two yards of fleece backing:

Cut along the fold line and you have one piece 29" x 72".  That's just right for one shawl.

Fold the other long piece in half, so it measures 29" x 36".  Cut on the fold.  That makes the backing for two lap quilts.

I sort of used Angela Yosten's pattern Boxed Up from the book Modern Blocks.  I liked the idea of a quarter log cabin with only two large logs - seemed like a quick sew.  I changed the dimensions and proportions of her block so it would finish at 8" like I needed.  I made twelve blocks, so the top measures 24" x 32".

After laying the top onto the fleece, I trimmed the fleece so it was 1" larger than the top.  Then I double folded it over the edges and stitched it down - that was my binding.  I did this before I did any quilting, because I wanted nice, neat stitching on the back, with no spillover into the binding.  It worked out fine.

I didn't want the quilt to be too scrappy, so I used the same corner block in all of them.  Then I picked four pairs of fabric and made three blocks out of each pair.  Two of the blocks in each pair were exactly the same, but the third block flipped the position of the fabrics.

So in the upper right, you see pale green in the outer log and orange in the inner log.  In the lower left, the same pair of fabric, but this time orange is the outer log and green is the inner.  This gave the small quilt more interest without being too busy.

And here's the first one - it's a lap quilt. It turned out better than I thought it would, considering these were all fabrics I was sick of.  I like the colors - they look happy.  

I like it enough that I'm going to make a big one for myself, and will use more of my sick-of fabrics.  This was an eye-opener and attitude changer for me.  For my big quilt, I'll make great big log cabins, then cut them in quarters.  That will go faster.  For the center, I'm using that peach swirly floral that you see in row 3, column 2.  I have lots of it.  I pulled the fabric to go with it, but can't start it until I get these charity quilts done, because I'm on a short deadline.